Casey Reas Drops ‘923 Empty Rooms’ On Art Blocks

Art Blocks and Bright Moments have teamed up for the second round of creative collaborations in their ongoing partnership for a new drop from pioneering generative artist, Casey Reas. 

The 923 Empty Rooms collection went live in Tokyo on August 14, 2023 and will continue to be released in batches, one day at a time, in the cities that served as the pieces’ color inspirations. The subsequent batches will drop in Berlin, London, New York, Mexico City, and Los Angeles. You can add the upcoming drops to your calendar on the Art Blocks website.

This collaboration comes on the heels of Reas’ earlier triumph, An Empty Room, which was commissioned by the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA). In his latest collection, Reas takes us on a wild ride through a style of art he describes as "binary plastic language." There’s also a dash of cubism and kinetic art (works that incorporate movement) in his latest designs.

Cool Cats Introduces Sidekicks

As excitement around web3 character lore grows, a new chapter is dawning for Cool Cats. Evolving into a global storytelling and character brand, Cool Cats is introducing a twist: the transformation of Cool Pets into dynamic companions, aptly named Sidekicks. 

According to the brand, Cool Cats’ vision is to flesh out its exciting intellectual property in partnership with the community. To keep things fresh, the once-singular Cool Pet silhouette will evolve into three distinct characters. These characters, known as Types, will offer a rich visual experience and cater to the diverse tastes of the Cool Cats community.

At the heart of this evolution lies the concept of Forms: Sidekicks will flaunt a fun new repertoire of outfits, from fur colors to accessories. With over 150 Forms across all three Types, the uniqueness factor of these collectibles will get a boost. There will be five rarity tiers: common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary. The higher the tier, likely the greater the visual allure.

Beyond the joy of collecting, completing a Sidekick set amplifies holders’ coveted Cool Score and unlocks perks in the upcoming Avatar System. 

Stay tuned, as even more exciting upgrades await the Cool Pets, including airdrops for OG Cool Pet holders and personalization options when minting. The process to upgrade your Cool Pets to Sidekicks is explained in-depth on the Cool Cats website. 

Jack Butcher Launches Opepen Collection Inspired by Pudgy Penguins

In a surprising turn of events, creative dynamo Jack Butcher has dropped an Opepen Collection inspired by Pudgy Penguins. Following teases that began with an August 6 blog post, evidence of the "Opepeng" drop appeared on Twitter on August 11 and again on August 14. 

The fusion of Butcher's distinctive style with the adorable look of Pudgy Penguins showcases the boundless possibilities of web3 artistic collaboration, leaving enthusiasts eagerly awaiting more partnerships. According to a tweet from Butcher, the editions are dynamic.

MNTGE Co-Creates Limited Edition NFC-Chipped Jackets for Outside Lands Music Festival

Music and NFTs unite again as web3 vintage clothing brand MNTGE collaborates with San Francisco-based music festival Outside Lands on an innovative new project.

In a limited-edition drop spanning August 11 to 13, MNTGE created 50 unique Near Field Communication (NFC)-chipped jackets. Each jacket comes with a commemorative embroidered patch that — in addition to adding style — provides a digital token as proof of authenticity on the blockchain. 

This approach to fashion is a stronghold against clothing counterfeits, going above and beyond the usual standards seen in the world of luxury items. Not to mention, the exciting endeavor offered concertgoers an immersive experience that seamlessly integrated the benefits of blockchain with entertainment and style. 

As NFTs continue to break new ground, this drop shows the potential for NFTs to redefine audience engagement.

DeGods Gives Holders the Option to ‘Downgrade’ Their Art

NFT design studio [de]labs announced a new feature that allows holders to “downgrade” their DeGods NFT artwork. 

You may recall that last week, we covered DeGods’ release of Season III of its collection, which rolled out a three-part update unveiling refreshed PFP artwork, an ability to switch from male to female DeGods and Points Parlor, a novel points system that incentivizes staking. It cost holders 333 $DUST (the collection’s native token) to upgrade their PFPs. And upgrade they did — but not everyone was pleased with the results.

Now, holders now have the option to downgrade their NFTs back to more simplified art — a move that reportedly could be the first-ever “art downgrade” in web3. The art downgrade’s design concept embraces an aesthetic described across the internet as “nostalgic.”

Changes to Creator Fees on OpenSea

Lastly, some news from OpenSea. We launched our Operator Filter so creators could restrict secondary sales to web3 marketplaces that enforce creator fees. It was meant to empower creators with greater control over their web3 business models, but it required the buy-in of everyone in the web3 ecosystem, and unfortunately, that has not happened. So we’re making a few changes to our approach to creator fees.  

What’s Changing:

Starting on Thursday, August 31, 2023, we’re moving to optional creator fees on OpenSea in an effort to better reflect the principles of choice and ownership that drive this decentralized ecosystem. At a high level, this means four main things: 

1. We’re sunsetting the OpenSea Operator Filter on August 31. This means that starting on that date, the Operator Filter will no longer block any marketplaces. 
2. For collections that enabled the OpenSea Operator Filter prior to August 31, and for existing collections on all non-Ethereum blockchains, OpenSea will enforce the creator's preferred fees on all secondary sales from August 31, 2023 through February 29, 2024.
3. We’re making it easier for buyers to identify secondary listings with the creator’s preferred fees included, starting on August 31.
4. We’re making it easier for sellers to choose the creator’s preferred fee or customize their creator fees payment, starting on August 31.

To be clear, creator fees aren’t going away – simply the ineffective, unilateral enforcement of them.

You can read more about these changes in this post on our blog.